


Friends

by Kat_is_a_kit_kat



Category: Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Chandler and JD are bros, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Self-Hatred, Self-Indulgent, Smoking, bulimia tw, eating disorder tw, mentions of self harm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:41:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28389462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_is_a_kit_kat/pseuds/Kat_is_a_kit_kat
Summary: Heather Chandler and Jason Dean were once friends when they were kids.JD moved away due to his father's work and Heather thought she'd never see him again, until nine years later, when JD returns to Westerburg High and meets Heather once again.Stuff goes down quickly, and JD and Heather quickly find themselves questioning if their friendship is worth more than their social status.
Relationships: Heather Chandler & Veronica Sawyer, Heather Chandler/Jason "J. D." Dean, Heather Duke/Heather McNamara, Jason "J. D." Dean/Veronica Sawyer, Kurt Kelly/Ram Sweeney
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Friends

**Author's Note:**

> Hello fellow ChanDean shippers who deprived of content! 
> 
> This is an AU that I've had in the working for about a year now, and I figured that I might as well get what I had down out and into the open for all to see and enjoy.
> 
> I hope this fic goes well and I hope you enjoy!

Veronica Sawyer nervously peered around the corner to see the red blazer of her commander, Heather Chandler. Heather pressed herself against the wall, her arms crossed and her eyes shut. In one of her hands was a piece of paper. Veronica swallowed her nerves and turned the corner.

“Heather, you called for me?” Heather’s eyes flickered open as she shared a tired look with Veronica.

“Yes, there are some new students that  _ we, _ ” Veronica resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Need to show around.”

“Okay, well, who are they?” Veronica reached for the piece of paper, only for Heather to jerk her hand away.

“I’ll be reading this,  _ thank you _ .” Heather shared a shrewd look with Veronica before unfolding the paper and muttering names off of the list. She mumbled half of them off with an uninterested stare until she got ¾ down the paper, where she stopped and stared, repeating a name several times, as if she couldn’t believe it.

Something crossed Heather’s face. It’s something Veronica’s not used to seeing on Heather. Pure joy crossed her face, pushing her lips upwards into a hearty smile as her cheeks gently flush a soft red. She quickly grabbed Veronica’s arm and started dragging her towards the front office, the smile on her face unflinching.

Veronica just let herself get dragged, somewhat curious as to who was on that sheet of paper that she was so excited to see. 

Heather let go of Veronica’s arm as they reached the front office, Heather scanned the area for a moment. Veronica isn’t so sure as to what she’s looking for, as all she sees is a mess of new students piling in and trying to get their schedule.

Heather knew exactly who she was looking for. She knew that face like the back of her hand. Yet, every face she saw isn’t the one she is looking for until her eyes fall onto a mop of black hair facing away from her. The person is flipping through a pile of papers, probably looking for his schedule. He finally finds it and rips it out, turning towards the direction of Heather.

The paper falls out of Heather’s hand. Veronica takes notice of this and tries to tell Heather, but Heather has already started to walk off. She shakes her head and picks up the piece of paper, scanning the names on it.

Heather hesitantly approaches him. Normally, she would confidently stroll up to whoever she wanted to talk to and just _ start _ a conversation. She’d emit such confidence and security that people  _ wanted  _ her to talk to them. 

But for the first time in her life, she’s walking slow. For the first time in her life, she’s unsure if this is the person she’s thinking of. For the first time in her life, Heather is actually having self-doubts. She’s only a few feet away from him now.

“JD?”

The guy instantly looks up. His face flashes with confusion as it looks her all over before immediately turning into shock. He, too, drops a piece of paper that Veronica reluctantly goes to pick up.

“Heather?”

Neither of them can help it as they run and fill the small distance between them, shoving themselves into each other, emitting a few confused stares and whispers from the students around them.    
Heather buries her nose in JD’s neck, a smile as wide as the moon plastered across her face. JD is feeling so overjoyed he almost feels like he could pick her up and spin her around.

And so he does.

He easily lifts her off the ground, causing her to let out a small yelp. He begins to slowly swing her around. Heather clutches onto him for dear life but starts laughing around the second spin. JD, upon hearing Heather’s laugh, starts to laugh as well.

Almost everyone is full-on staring, confused as to just who this stranger is and how he’s making Heather  _ Chandler _ of all people laugh like they’ve never seen before.

He eventually stops spinning and puts her back on the ground, giving her one last squeeze before letting go.    
“I haven’t seen you in years!” Heather exclaims with a wide smile on her face.

“Right back at you, stranger!” JD remarks, letting out a small chuckle.

Veronica stands awkwardly beside them, waiting for a lull long enough lull in the conversation to insert herself. Heather takes notice of this and waves her over, a bright smile on her face, which, for once, is free of malice.

“Veronica, this is JD! We were friends back in elementary.” JD gives Veronica a small two-finger salute and Veronica lazily returns it with a small wave.

“Interesting.” Veronica sticks her hand out. JD takes it and gently shakes it before letting go. “Oh, uhm, you dropped this.” Veronica haphazardly hands JD his schedule. Veronica turns to face Heather with a less than amused face. “And you,” Veronica taps the folded up paper against Heather’s chest. “Dropped this.” 

Heather snatches the paper out of Veronica’s fingers with a less than impressed expression but her jubilant smile soon returns afterward.

Heather takes a gander at JD’s schedule before grabbing his wrist and leading him away. Veronica contemplates whether or not she should follow, but a haste look back from Heather, who has her eyebrow cocked, wondering why she’s not coming along is all the answer she needs.

Normally, Veronica would’ve enjoyed following Heather as she talked to somebody else. It meant that for a short while anyway, Veronica would get a break from being bitched at. She could be in her own thoughts, as long as she didn’t pass Heather or interrupt her conversation.

But today? Following behind whoever this was talking with her? It felt like treachery. All they did was talk and crack inside jokes. Veronica honestly felt like she was third-wheeling. It was annoying. This guy randomly showed up out of nowhere, and  _ instantly _ , Heather was treating him better than she treated half of the school. Hell, she was treating him better than she treated her own  _ friends _ .

It really irked Veronica. And catching a glimpse of green heading into a bathroom by the corner, Veronica had a plan to release her qualms with this dude. She stopped walking and made sure they turned the corner before she dashed inside, quickly darting to the last stall and banging on it.

“Heather, I know you’re in there, can we talk?”

“Veronica? Uh, I’m kind of busy here.”

Veronica fought the urge to laugh. “Look, I know you’re probably really busy upchucking your breakfast, but I have news.” Veronica pauses for a second, wincing at how mean she sounded. “Important news.”

Duke lets out a small sigh and mutters something to herself before undoing the lock on the stall door and sharing a shrewd look with Veronica.

Veronica pats her on the shoulder. “Sorry. Uhm, okay,” Duke raises an eyebrow. “Do you know who Jason Dean is?” Duke’s eyebrows only knit up further.

“No?”

“Okay, so, Heather dragged me out of class to help with her punishment,” Duke nodded, a smug smile on her face. She had barely managed to worm out of being Heather’s assistant for that task by offering to get Veronica. “And she pulled towards the front office and got all excited upon seeing this kid with shaggy black hair,” Veronica shook her head. “Apparently that’s her childhood friend? I don’t know.”

“Interesting.” Duke nods as she crosses her arm. “Was that all?”

“I guess so, it’s just annoying, we get treated like punching bags, and now, just because she apparently  _ knows _ this guy, he gets treated like an actual human, it isn’t fair.” Duke nods, biting her lip.

“It’s not, but fair isn’t a word in Heather’s vocabulary. Let’s just hope that the way she’s treating him will filter over to us.” Duke shrugs and pats Veronica on the shoulder before walking out of the bathroom and heading back to call.

Veronica spends a few more minutes sulking in the bathroom before heading back to her own class.

. . .

Heather has never been more ecstatic in her entire life. Not once. Not since she was a kid can she remember feeling such euphoria as high as the one she was currently experiencing. It was  _ wonderful _ .

She and JD went way back. Way,  _ way _ back. Before the “Heathers” were even a thing. Their friendship predated her becoming the leader of the most elite clique at school. It was quite weird.

Growing up, Heather’s mother attended this weekly book club thing, and would sometimes bring Heather along. Heather absolutely loathed it. Sitting there for an hour, sometimes two, just listening to a bunch of women drone on about themes and metaphors in the books they were reading wasn’t exactly something Heather found appealing, so more often than once, Heather would sneak out of the room they were hosting the club in, and wander around the library.

She would do anything from there. Touch books, play on the computers, skip around and see how many times she could evade the librarian who chased after her for running in the library. Literally, anything that prevented her from sitting in that room. Not that being outside the room was much more fun, it just provided an opportunity for Heather to move her feet. 

It was there that she met Jason Dean. Turns out, his mother also attended the lame book club meetings and would bring him along sometimes. Heather hadn’t even noticed him there before, but considering how shy JD was upon her first meeting him, Heather wasn’t really surprised.

She and JD hit it off almost immediately. It was kinda surprising, to say the least. Heather had already snuck out of the meeting and was prancing down the young adult section, scanning the rows for a title that struck her eye when another eye caught hers. Heather immediately jutted back and so did whoever else this was. Heather was able to get a better look at him. He had dark brown eyes and scraggly brown hair. He gave her a nervous smile, one that revealed that he was missing a few teeth. Heather smiled back as genuinely as she could, revealing that she also had lost teeth. She stuck her hand through the tiny slot in the bookshelf.

“Heather!” She spoke warmly. JD reluctantly shook her hand before whispering back his own name.

“Jason.” His voice was muffled. Heather relinquished his hand from her grasp before running around the isle into his.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Heather was able to get a much better look at him. His hair was wildly scraggly, bordering on unkempt. He had on an oversized t-shirt and khakis. His hands were tucked into the pockets of said khakis. 

“Jason.” He repeated, slightly louder this time. “You can call me JD though.”

“Cool!” Heather said a warm smile on her face. JD shared a smile back in return. “So, what are you doing here?” Heather pressed her shoulder against a bookshelf, leaning against it in an attempt to look cool.

“I dunno really, my mom is in some book club meeting, so I’m just trying to pass time. You?”

“My mom is the same lame-o book club! So, I’m trying to pass time as well!” Heather smiled once again. JD shared a slightly wider smile upon hearing that they shared the same grievances. Heather reached forward and grabbed JD’s arm, not noticing the immediate discomfort that painted itself across his face as she did so.

“Hey, you wanna do something fun?” JD swallowed before slowly nodding. She guided him around the corner. She let go of his arm to point at the librarian, who was currently scrunched over a book, rapidly flipping through the pages. “See her?”

JD nodded. “We’re gonna run past her and get her to chase us.” Heather gave JD a devious smirk.

JD pulled back slightly. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Won’t that get us in trouble?” Heather turned to face JD.

“Not at all! Here,” Heather extended her hand to his. He raised an eyebrow. “Follow my lead and we won’t get caught!” JD sighed before taking Heather’s hand. She turned her attention back to the librarian. “Alright, when I say go, we run, okay?” She whispered back to JD. 

“Are you sure abou-”

“Go!” Heather whisper shouted, yanking JD with a force that nearly toppled both of them to the ground. JD quickly began to run to keep pace with Heather. They passed by the librarian counter in a flash, the only evidence that they were even there would be the loud footsteps that they both emit. The librarian slammed her hands on the counter before belting out in an angered tone. “ **_No running!_ ** ” Almost instantly after she screeched this did she take off after them, running at a pace JD didn’t think was humanly possible for a woman her age.

JD kept his eyes focused on the librarian as she turned corner after corner, staying on their tails. Heather kept her eyes forward, ducking left and right with rapid speed, keeping her hand wrapped tightly around JD’s. Heather turned down a corridor that led nicely to the outside door.

“You ready, JD?!” She shouted. JD turned his attention towards where Heather was pulling him. She kept charging with little to no hesitation directly towards the door.

“Heather!” He shouted, concerned about what she was doing.

“On three!” She shouted back. “One!” JD turned his head back towards the librarian who had just turned the corner. She slowed her pace significantly upon seeing where the two of them were. “Two!” JD turned his attention back towards Heather, feeling anxiety wash over him as the door neared closer and closer with every passing second. “Three!” Heather shouted, pulling JD next to her as she leaped forward, slamming her arms into the door, practically bursting it open as they both tumbled outside.

Heather instantly let out a giggle fit upon hearing the library doors shut. “That was awesome!”

JD let out a few labored breaths as he laid next to Heather on the ground before a smile wormed itself onto his face. He let out a few giggles himself. “I think that’s the most fun I’ve had here in a while.” He hoisted himself off the ground, walking over to Heather and offering her a hand up. Heather smiled warmly, gripping his hand and hopping up almost instantly.

“You’re a blast, how come I never see you?” Heather asked, turning on her heel and beginning her trek around the building towards its front entrance. JD followed suit.

“I dunno. I normally don’t leave the meeting I guess.” Heather let out a snort. 

“You should do it more often, that way we can totally hang out more!” Heather turned to face him, the equivalent of stars beaming in her eyes. JD shared a soft smile upon seeing her face. 

“I guess I can do that.”

They were nearing the front. The entrance was rapidly disposing of several women. One of which, Heather recognized to be her mom, talking to someone that she didn’t know.

“Hey, you wanna meet my mom?” Heather asked, a bounce in her step. JD shrugged.

“Sure.” She smiled as she grabbed his hand and dragged her over to the two women. Her mother merely nodded at her upon seeing her, while the other woman she was talking to outstretched her arms. JD almost instantly ran into them, wrapping his arms around her form. 

“Mom.” He whispered into her side. 

“Yeah, honey?”

He pulled back from her and gestured at Heather. “Meet my friend, Heather.” Heather gave JD’s mother a small wave. Her wave was returned with a tired smile.

“Well, I think it’s time for us to leave, right, Heather?” Heather’s mother’s shrill voice cut into the air.

“Yes, mother.” She waved a somber goodbye to JD as she followed her mother to the car. Once she was actually in the car did she let out a small prayer that JD would be at the next book club meeting, and that this wasn’t just a one-time thing.

Lucky for Heather, it wasn’t.

They quickly became best friends. Heather began to go with her mother to the book club meetings willingly. She even started to beg her mother to let her go with her. Her mother agreed, silently happy that Heather had made a friend. It also aided JD and Heather’s friendship that both of their mothers hit it off right away. Heather’s mother was welcome over at the Dean residence at almost any time and vice versa, although Heather spent a lot more time at JD’s house than he spent at hers.

This was most likely because Heather’s mother didn’t want JD to witness her fighting with her husband. And besides, JD’s house had a very comforting atmosphere to it. During the winter, JD’s mother invited Heather over to have a Christmas marathon with them. Making both of them hot chocolate and wrapping them tightly in blankets before joining them on the couch herself.

Things couldn’t get any better for Heather. She had an awesome best friend, he went to the same school as her, his mother was practically her own mother with how warm and kind she was to her. Things were perfect, until one day, JD vanished.

It wasn’t out of the blue, so to say. JD showed up to school the week before he disappeared and began telling Heather that she was his absolute best friend and that no matter what, he would always find a way to find her again. Heather had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, so she just gave him hugs in response to the things he said. Though, she noticed how he hugged a little tighter and how every hug lasted a little longer. How he stared sadly at her every time they were forced to pull apart.

And then, the week after that, he disappeared. No note, no context, nothing. He just left, leaving Heather all alone once again. Leaving her without any compassion as she went back to spending all of her time at her parent’s house. Listening to them bitch and argue constantly. Having to go back to locking her door to avoid having one of them march up to her room and scream at her about how everything was her fault. 

It hurt. A lot. Heather had a giant gaping wound in her chest that she would never be able to refill. 

So, she decided to pretend that it didn’t hurt. She decided to pretend that she knew everything. She decided to pretend that she was confident in everything that she did. And this new strategy of pretending that she was everything she wasn’t drew in a lot of people. Before she even knew it, Heather rose above the popularity ranks at her school, quickly becoming number one. Several people during this time tried to befriend her. She declined almost all of their invitations, except for two. A dork named Heather and a cheerleader also named Heather. With her hands, she quickly turned the three of them into the most powerful clique the school had ever seen.

But her heart still ached. She still felt things. She had a cold and hardened exterior, but underneath she was still the same kid who cried after her only friend disappeared on her.

She could still remember the day her mother dumped her off to her new parents. She was surprised at the size of the house. She was surprised at the amount of cars. What she wasn’t surprised at was her mother flipping her off and driving off, for her to never see again. What she wasn’t surprised at was how quickly her adopted parents grew to loathe her. What she wasn’t surprised at was how often they bought her stuff to keep her happy.

What surprised her was how she still thought of JD during these times. During especially rough nights, Heather would ball her blankets into a bundle and hug them tightly, pretending it was her friend.    
It had been so long and he was finally back. Heather shared a look with him as they stopped at the class he was supposed to be in. She pulled him into a tight hug. One he returned almost instantly, hugging Heather even tighter. They pulled away after a couple of moments.

Heather shook her head before punching him lightly in the shoulder. “I’m so glad to see you again.”

JD laid his hand on her shoulder, a warm smile painted across his face. “Me too, Heather, me too.”

Heather leaned her cheek against his hand, sighing softly. JD gave her a soft smile. Heather shook her head and quickly leaned away from his touch. “You should totally come over after school,” JD cocked a teasing eyebrow. “It’ll be very.” Heather added on with a smirk.

JD let out a low chuckle before shrugging. “Sure, as long as you guide the way.”

Heather rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, get your ass in class.” She started down the hallway back towards her original class before she stopped and turned towards him. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

JD and Heather exchanged smirks as they both turned and walked towards their own destinations.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed and have a great day/night!


End file.
